en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 10, Fortuna Mining completed the acquisition of the advanced-stage Bambadji gold exploration project in Senegal, paying $200 million in cash to subsidiaries of Barrick and IAMGOLD. The transaction was completed through the acquisition of shares in certain Senegalese subsidiaries held by the two sellers, with funding from Fortuna Mining's own resources.

Of the transaction consideration, a Barrick subsidiary received $130.35 million, and an IAMGOLD subsidiary received $69.65 million. Fortuna Mining also granted the two sellers a 0.5% net smelter return royalty on the first 1.75 million ounces of gold production from the Bambadji Nord mining permit, with the interests of the Barrick and IAMGOLD subsidiaries set at 0.325% and 0.175%, respectively.

The Bambadji project comprises two mining permits covering approximately 190 square kilometers, located directly east of Fortuna Mining's Diamba Sud gold project, which is currently in the feasibility study stage. Upon completion of the acquisition, the company holds a continuous exploration corridor of approximately 60 kilometers along the Senegal-Mali shear zone, with existing roads providing direct access from Diamba Sud to the project.

The acquisition also includes geochemical, geophysical, and lithological data, as well as approximately 214,000 meters of historical auger, reverse circulation, and diamond drilling data. Historical work has delineated at least eight priority targets with drilling data, with some mineralized zones still open along strike and at depth. Disclosed drill results include 52.9 meters at 2.12 grams per tonne gold at the Kabewest target, and 5 meters at 14.63 grams per tonne gold at the Djenebou target; all figures are down-hole lengths.

Fortuna Mining has approved $8 million in investment for Bambadji for the remainder of 2026, planning 51,000 meters of reverse circulation and diamond drilling. The initial work program will cover eight priority targets, several of which lie within 20 kilometers of the proposed Diamba Sud processing plant, with drilling scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2026.